Shimeiishiki: The Awareness of Duty
by Raika
Summary: After Ursa runs away from the Fire Palace Iroh offers her protection... as the wife of his most trusted soldier, Lieutenant Jee. UrsaXJee [give it a chance please!] with Zutara in later chapters.
1. Prologue Makaseru To Entrust to Another

_Hello everyone and welcome to my humble fanfic! I've had this idea in my head for months now and I finally decided to write it out since it just won't leave me alone. This story will mostly focus on the relationship Between Jee and Ursa (strange, I know, give it a chance!) but will also have some Zutara in later chapters. I admit I am not much of a writer but I hope you enjoy anyway! _

_Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to __Nickelodeon__, not me. _

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_Shimeiishiki_: The Awareness of Duty

Prologue: _Makaseru_ - To Entrust to Another

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I have always been loyal to my nation, but I would be lying if I didn't say that the request given to me by General Iroh all those years ago was an easy one for me to agree to. Oh, if it had been a regular military mission given to me by the General where I was faced with the possibility of death I would have stepped right up, no questions asked, without any hesitation about throwing myself into battle for the man I so looked up to. 

But this… this was a completely different type of assignment and as such it required me to sacrifice something even more valuable then my own life. Going along with what General Iroh wanted meant that I would have to give up my hopes for a peaceful family life after retiring from the military. Admittedly I knew it was a feeble dream anyway, I would have to deny the odds and manage to survive the war before that vision could come to pass.

My mission, and I did choose to accept it, was to marry someone I had never met and keep her identity hidden from anyone searching for her. As if this odd request itself wasn't shocking enough, imagine my surprise when I learned that the girl, no… the women, I was to wed was no innocent peasant charged wrongly in Ozai's court for a crime she did not commit. Oh no, if only things had been that simple then maybe I wouldn't have ended with a part to play in the final battle that would ultimately end the 100 year long war for good.

For you see, the person General Iroh wanted me to make my spouse was none other then the recently disappeared Princess Ursa, wife of newly crowned Fire Lord Ozai.

At the time I remember wondering just what I had gotten myself into.

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_This is going to be a sort of Drabble-fic (Unless I'm able to flesh it out into something longer, but no promises there). Every other chapter is going to go back and forth between Ursa's and Jee's point of view, starting with Jee in the next chapter. Please give it a chance! _

_I'm not going to ask you to review because I'm horrible at doing it myself (If you've written a Zutara fic I've probably read it and not reviewed... I'm sorry!), but if you so feel the need to send one my way I thank you in advance! _

_ Raika_


	2. Kichigaijimiteiru – Touch of Insanity

_Thanks to all who reviewed! As promised here is chapter 1! I hope you enjoy it! _

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_ Shimeiishiki_: The Awareness of Duty

Chapter 1: _Kichigaijimiteiru_ – Touch of Insanity

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Having been under direct supervision of the general for years I thought I knew how the man worked rather well, but upon the death of Irohs son during the siege of Ba Sing Se he underwent a change of character. While always having been a kind man the Dragon of the West was known for his loyalty to his father, fierceness in battle and his drive to never give up no matter what the circumstances. Needless to say it came as a complete shock to everyone when he declared that he would be pulling out all the Fire Nation forces surrounding the wall of the city and be returning home in defeat to a country that was undergoing a crisis of its own. This declaration had come after he had disappeared for three days, for private morning, or so we had all thought at the time. 

In hindsight, I remember thinking that he looked as if he had returned from the dead and only now know how close to the truth that passing thought had been.

Upon reaching the Fire Nation I had planned on re-registering for the army or navy because there was no other way to make the money I needed to survive in the faltering war-time economy. Despite my plans a letter from retired General Iroh asking me to meet him in his private wing of the palace changed my life as I knew it.

Upon seeing Iroh the night of the meeting I couldn't help but be taken aback in his change of appearance, though I shouldn't have been. Not only had he lost his beloved wife a few years back but also his only child by her in a bloody battle which he himself had sent him into. As if that wasn't enough, he had also lost his father and his thrown in just one devastating blow of fate. He must have felt betrayed by both his fathers' decision to give the crown to Ozai, and his brothers' acceptance of said title. Not to mention the fact that his sister-in-law had been missing since the night of ex-Fire Lord Azulons' murder. The populace was equally split between thinking she was also killed and her body would eventually be found cut into little pieces hidden somewhere in the palace, or thinking that she herself had been the killer. Though no one could understand why she would have run if the later had been the case since her husband was the new Fire Lord and had total control of the law.

In any case, it really should have been more shocking that just a few short weeks after having his life ripped apart Iroh was calmly drinking tea while entertaining a guest and not locked up in some insane asylum somewhere. If I had just realized something was just a bit too off with the prince maybe I could have been spared some confusion that night.

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"Welcome Jee, come on in and have a cup of Jasmine tea." Iroh smiled brightly as he ushered the man through the door and into a room that held a table with two steaming cups already set out and waiting to be drunk. 

"Thank you, sir." Jee spoke as he took a seat on one end of the low table. At first glance the room seemed to be like any other nobles, decorated with fine art adorning the walls, splashes of gold, and expensive trinkets that had no functional use, but if one looked closer the depression that the occupant of the room was experiencing could be seen everywhere. The white jacket by the door that was only worn in the weeks following a loss, the shards of glass in the corner broken in a fit of anger, and the many empty sake bottles peaking out from various places around the room all spoke of the trouble the Dragon of the West was having dealing with the recent turn of events. Jee was not fooled by his otherwise happy exterior.

"I am no longer a general so there is no need to be so formal Jee." Irohs' smile slipped slightly as he was reminded of the reasons behind his early retirement before it again returned to its former radiant glory. "How are your parents? I trust they were happy to see you return home earlier than expected."

Jee was the only child of his parents although the couple had adopted a baby girl who had been orphaned by the war a few years back. Even at the age of 29 Jee still visited his family's house often whenever he was home between deployments around the world.

"They are doing just fine and were happy to see me return in good health." Jee answered awkwardly, not used to being on such informal terms with people of such high birth. "With all due respect sir, I doubt you called me here to ask about the health of my family. Your letter seemed to speak of something urgent."

"Ah, always one to get straight to the point." With these words Irohs' smile finally fell for good and was replaced by a look of complete seriousness. "You are correct, this matter is one that will require your complete attention if you choose to accept the task."

"You know I would do anything you ask." Jees' eyes were serious as he set down his tea cup. "What is it that you need?"

"Ozai has changed greatly since we were children." A chill ran through Jee as Irohs' gaze seemed to un-focus as he thought back to happier days playing pranks on the noble-women around the palace. "I fear that he will escalate this war and end up injuring the people of this nation to an extent that they will not be able to recover from. I need your help in ensuring protective measures are taken against this outcome."

Jee started, the many different implications of such a statement running though his head. "Prince Iroh..." He said carefully, "Are you thinking of overthrowing your brother to retake your thrown?"

"No. No, I am not." The change came without warning as Irohs eyes grew dark and the tea resting in his cup began to shake in time with his fingers. "The sprits told me it is not my destiny to rule this nation" he whispered in a far away voice.

"The... sprits, sir? What are you talking about? Have you been drinking?" Jee was suddenly afraid that he had over-estimated the ex-generals emotional strength as it became clear that the change in Iroh was one that was much greater than anyone had realized.

"I am not drunk!" Iroh screamed as he stood up, knocking the table over and spilling cooling tea all over the floor in the process. "And I am not crazy! I can see you think so in your eyes! They told me I've been given a gift. A fucking _gift!_" The last word coming out as a laughing sob. "A gift would have been to get Lu Ten back, this… this is no gift… this is not what I went into the Sprit World to get…" Iroh trailed off and started crying quietly as Jee sat by the overturned table, stunned by the sudden violent outburst from the normally collected prince.

"That's it! I know you told me to stay in the other room until you made sure that this man could be trusted, but at this rate you'll have the whole palace in here, and then where will I hide?" An unexpected voice spoke from a doorway on the other side of the room and Jee turned to see someone who he had thought was surely either dead or at the very least far from the Fire-capital. He certainly didn't expect to see her still inside the palace walls where she was the chief suspect in the murder of Fire Lord Azulon.

Princess Ursa cast Jee grim smile as she walked and knelt by a quieting Iroh, "At least this way we'll only have to get rid of one person if things don't go as planned."

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At the time I could only remember thinking one thing: 

'_Just what is going on here?'  
_

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_So I lied about some stuff before, as you can see. Only the begining and end of each chapter will be in the POV of either Jee or Ursa, while the middle will be in 3rd person. Also I'm expecting that most chapters will be about this length. Sill not very long, but not nearly as short as a drabble would be. _

_I hope you liked it enough to come back and read the next section! _

_Raika  
_


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